Corporate Responsibility

President George W. Bush addresses corporate leaders on Wall Street in New York, Tuesday, July 9. The President, who unveiled plans to create a new Corporate Fraud Task Force, introduced criminal penalties for corporate fraud and fund new initiatives in the SEC that will provide accountability to corporate America. White House photo by Eric Draper

The President’s Leadership in Combating Corporate Fraud

The Administration continues to pursue an aggressive agenda to fight corporate fraud and abuse:

Exposing and punishing acts of corruption

Holding corporate officers and directors accountable

Protecting small investors, pension holders and workers

Moving corporate accounting out of the shadows

Developing a stronger, more independent corporate audit system

Providing better information to investors.

Since the exposure of the corporate fraud scandals, the President has taken decisive action to combat corporate fraud and punish corporate wrongdoers.

In February, the President announced strong, effective pension reforms to protect America's workers. The President outlined a comprehensive proposal to remove obstacles to savings and toughen protections of retirement assets. The House took quick action and approved the President's reforms on a bipartisan basis. To date, the Senate leadership has not brought pension reform to the Senate floor. Nonetheless, the President was able to incorporate several of his initiatives into the corporate governance bill he signed in late July.

On March 7, 2002 the President announced his "Ten-Point Plan to Improve Corporate Responsibility and Protect America's Shareholders," based on three core principles: information accuracy and accessibility, management accountability, and auditor independence. Following the President.s proposals, the SEC took decisive action to implement the "Ten Point Plan" to improve the quality of corporate disclosure and the accountability of executives and auditors. The SEC proposed rules and adopted policies consistent with all ten of the President's reforms.